One Texans player reports for work at Reliant

JOHN McCLAIN, Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle |
April 26, 2011

Cornerback Antwaun Molden, eager to get his fourth season started, was the only Texans player who showed up at Reliant Stadium on Tuesday -- one day after judge Judy Nelson lifted the lockout by ruling in favor of the players.

Lawyers for the players told them they could report for work. The NFL told teams to open their doors to players who wanted to come in but to not allow them to use the weight room.

A team official said Molden met with general manager Rick Smith before he left the stadium.

Inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans, the Texans' player representative, said he asked his teammates to stay put until details were sorted out but that players could do whatever they wanted.

For players who have been working out at Rice and Plex for the last few weeks, it was business as usual.

The Texans will report to work when their lawyers and the NFL tell them it's okay to return to work, which could be as early as next week.

Elsewhere around the league, small groups of players showed up at team facilities Tuesday — let inside but told they would not be allowed to work out. Most left in a matter of minutes on a strange day with more questions than answers and the judge said she will take at least another day to consider whether she should put her order on hold.

The league issued a statement that called for players to be “treated with courtesy and respect” if they show up. But the NFL said it needs “a few days to sort this out” before “football activities” can take place.

Backup quarterback Stephen McGee was among several players who visited Dallas Cowboys headquarters the morning after the lockout was lifted.

Players were allowed inside for the first time since the lockout was imposed March 11 because of a federal judge’s ruling Monday. However, the rules of engagement remain unclear and players leaguewide were not allowed to work out.

Buffalo cornerback Leodis McKelvin was turned away at the security gate, told to expect a call from his coach for clarity on when he could return.

“If I said I wasn’t expecting it, I’d be lying to you,” said Bills teammate George Wilson. “There’s all kind of ways around and loopholes.”

“It was a little weird,” Armstrong said. “It felt like you were sneaking into the club or something like that, and they knew you weren’t supposed to be in there but they hadn’t done anything about it yet. Just a little awkward.”

Alexander said he would call other teammates to let them know there wasn’t much of a point to showing up.

“I do have a workout bonus, and since the lockout is lifted out,” he said. “I wanted to make sure I took full advantage to come up here and work out because I don’t want some technicality to happen later: ‘You didn’t show up. You didn’t come.’ And then I’m out of my workout bonus.”

Tennessee right guard Jake Scott, his team’s player representative for the now-dissolved union, spoke to senior executive vice president Steve Underwood and left his team’s headquarters 10 minutes later.

Scott said he was told no staff was available to meet with players. This for a team with a new head coach, too, in Mike Munchak.

Miami Dolphins cornerback Will Allen said he was told he can’t work out on team property.

“It’s very chaotic for the teams right now,” Allen’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus said. “It’s not chaotic for the players. Our position is the lockout is over, free agency should begin, signings should begin, offseason workouts should begin, everything should be going on. The longer the NFL doesn’t do that and drags this out, the more there are concerns of collusion and violations of antitrust laws.”

U.S District Judge Susan Richard Nelson lifted the lockout Monday, writing in an 89-page order that she believed it is causing “irreparable harm” to the players. The NFL questioned whether Nelson exceeded her jurisdiction, and said it would seek an immediate stay of her ruling as well as relief from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

Nelson has given the players until 9 a.m. Central time Wednesday to reply to the league’s expedited motion for a stay.

But if her injunction is upheld — by the judge herself or the appellate court — the NFL must resume business in some fashion.

It could invoke the 2010 rules for free agency, meaning players would need six seasons of service before becoming unrestricted free agents when their contracts expire; previously, it was four years. The requirement for restricted free agents would be four years rather than the three years before 2010. There also was no salary cap in 2010, meaning teams could spend as much — or as little — as they wanted.

All of this was in the background for this week’s draft, which has a decidedly weird feel as teams prep for picks without free agency or the ability to swap personnel.

Jim Quinn, an attorney for the players, said the pressure is on the league.

“They better act quickly, because as of right now there’s no stay and, presumably, players could sign with teams,” Quinn said. “There are no guidelines as of right now, so they have to put something in place quickly.”

Nelson’s ruling was another rebuke of the NFL in the federal courts in Minnesota, which was established years ago as the venue for the league’s collective bargaining system. Three weeks ago, NFL attorney David Boies suggested to Nelson that she shouldn’t have jurisdiction over a dispute with an unfair bargaining complaint against the players pending with the National Labor Relations Board.

In her ruling, Nelson rejected that contention and recognized the NFL Players Association’s decision to “de-unionize” as legitimate. She even referenced her colleague, U.S. District Judge David Doty, who has frequently ruled for the players against the NFL. Not only did she declare that players are likely to suffer harm by the lockout, a legal requirement for granting the injunction, Nelson wrote they’re already feeling the hurt now and cited their short careers.

What Nelson didn’t do, however, was address the issue of the antitrust lawsuit filed last month when the union broke up. That, she wrote, “must wait another day.”

In an opinion piece posted late Monday on the Wall Street Journal website, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote that Nelson’s ruling “may significantly alter professional football as we know it. ... By blessing this negotiating tactic (recognizing the players’ right to dissolve their union), the decision may endanger one of the most popular and successful sports leagues in history.”

Owners imposed the lockout after talks broke down March 11 and the players disbanded their union.

Nelson heard arguments on the injunction at a hearing on April 6 and ordered the two sides into mediation. The owners and players, who failed to reach consensus after 16 days of mediated talks earlier this year, met over four days with a federal magistrate but did not announce any progress.

They are not scheduled to meet again until May 16, four days after Doty holds a hearing on whether players should get damages in their related fight with owners over some $4 billion in broadcast revenue.

With appeals expected, the fight seems likely to drag on through the spring. The closer it gets to August, when training camps and the preseason get into full swing, the more likely it becomes that regular-season games could be lost.

The NFL, meantime, expressed confidence in its appeal.

“But we also believe that this dispute will inevitably end with a collective bargaining agreement, which would be in the best interests of players, clubs and fans,” the NFL said in a statement. “We can reach a fair agreement only if we continue negotiations toward that goal.”